Hi, I have been happily on my new cutting program for about five weeks now and had lost about 11 pounds. This has been very encouraging to me. I have been weighing myself in the evenings to keep track of my weight, and it has fluctuated, but this weekend something really weird happenned and wanted to know if it has happenned to anyone here.

Saturday morning I got up and weighed myself. I weigh myself in the mornings too, just to see the difference between night and morning (usually about 3 lbs). Anyway, I was at 229.0. I had been excited because the past two mornings I was under 230, and haven't been under 230 in several years. Friday evening I had weighed in at 232.0.

I haven't been doing any exercise the last weekends because my school's gym is closed on the weekends. I decided to use the gym at my apartment complex though this weekend, so I can workout every day. So I went and ran on a treadmill for 60 minutes at 75-80% of my max heart rate. I ate like normal during the day, but I got bored and decided to swim. It wasn't really intense, but I swam for an hour, and I know this would have used at least a couple hundred more calories than sitting on my couch.

I have been eating clean for the last five weeks, and I ate the same as I have been. Yet when I got on the scale on Saturday night, I weighed in at 235.4, which was 6.4 lbs more than that morning, and 3.4 lbs more than the previous night. Sunday morning, I was at 232.4, which was 3.4 pounds heavier than the previous morning.

Has anyone had weight fluctuations that were this large? My weight last night was down to 234.2, while my weight this morning was still 231.4. I am going to keep on, as my ultimate goal is to be in the 170-180 lb range and 10-12% BF by next July, but I was just curious about these large fluctuations.

For those who are wondering, I am 6'0" (183 cm), 28% BF (according to my scale), 26 years old, and male. I've been keeping my calories right around 2000, try to get 60 min of 70-80% MHR cardio 6-7 days a week. Will be starting a weight routine in the middle of July. Thanks for the help everyone.

My first guess would be water retention. Are you taking creatine by any chance?

jason

For those who are wondering, I am 6'0" (183 cm), 28% BF (according to my scale), 26 years old, and male. I've been keeping my calories right around 2000, try to get 60 min of 70-80% MHR cardio 6-7 days a week. Will be starting a weight routine in the middle of July. Thanks for the help everyone.

Jeez... too many people have been logging on who cut calories to near famine levels. Your size, though I know you're trying to reduce it, requires more calories than just 2000. You are hindering your progress by keeping calories so low - my trusty spreadsheet based on Harris-Benedict spits out 2,250 kcal's per day for someone your age and size. Going lower than that endangers lean body mass (which you want to keep as much of as you can) and slows metabolism.

My weight has fluctuated as much as three pounds in a day - but I'm also 80-lbs smaller than you, so I imagine a 4~5 lb. fluctuation isn't out of the question for someone your size.

I take daily readings on weight - same time of day, once per day. I average that over the previous seven days (so this won't work until you have seven days worth of weight readings) and then I average and graph them to get my overall weight gain/loss trend. It's statistically more accurate than obsessing over daily weight fluctuations which are influenced by far too many factors.

Bottom line? Don't obsess over the scale. Take your weight readings, but remember that your intake of water, sodium, types of foods, etc. will influence your weight greatly.

Are you eating a lot of sodium? Can lead to water retention. Don't weigh yourself too much, especially if you eat alot. You want to average your weight loss over time, but weighing all the time may give you mixed results. I may stay the same weight for a week, but lose three the next for varying reasons (without cheating). Make sure you are eating right and exercising at optimum times and you will be rewarded (over time), but there will be bumps and plateaus that you have to work through on the way. Good Luck and keep working hard!

My first guess would be water retention. Are you taking creatine by any chance?

jason

No I am not. The only supplement that I am currently taking is a daily mulitivitamin.

Are you eating a lot of sodium? Can lead to water retention. Don't weigh yourself too much, especially if you eat alot. You want to average your weight loss over time, but weighing all the time may give you mixed results. I may stay the same weight for a week, but lose three the next for varying reasons (without cheating). Make sure you are eating right and exercising at optimum times and you will be rewarded (over time), but there will be bumps and plateaus that you have to work through on the way. Good Luck and keep working hard!

All right, thanks, I'll do that. I know that if I continue working, I should come down, I just thought the fluctuation was large. I may have had more sodium than normal. I'll see how it goes.

I can easily gain or lose 5 - 10 pounds in a day based on my sodium and carbohydrate intake. If you are low on carbs one day, you lose those carbs (glycogen) and there is about a 3:1 ratio of water to carbohydrate in your muscle cells, so in other words, just consuming 100 grams of carbs can increase your water levels by 300 - 400 grams. Sodium also impacts water balance.

This is why, while I do weigh daily, I track it either through DietPower or on an Excel spreadsheet and watch the average TREND rather than the daily fluctuations.

Jeremy

If you are low on carbs one day, you lose those carbs (glycogen) and there is about a 3:1 ratio of water to carbohydrate in your muscle cells, so in other words, just consuming 100 grams of carbs can increase your water levels by 300 - 400 grams. Sodium also impacts water balance.
Jeremy

Interesting. When you lose(burn) glycogen, don't you lose water? The carbs replacing them should be able to get water from already on-board source. They aren't bringing the water in, or they? 100 gms will cause a .9 lb raise in weight, think what happens with people taking in 60% in carbs. I am trying to understand the carb/water connection.

Interesting. When you lose(burn) glycogen, don't you lose water? The carbs replacing them should be able to get water from already on-board source. They aren't bringing the water in, or they? 100 gms will cause a .9 lb raise in weight, think what happens with people taking in 60% in carbs. I am trying to understand the carb/water connection.

Yes, when you lose glycogen, you lose water. The carbs coming in may or may not have water. In fact, many recommendations for post-workout shakes involve drinking large amounts of water because the theory is that if enough isn't present, you lose your window of opportunity to replenish that glycogen.

It's all speculation, but it makes sense to me. I can tell you without a doubt that if I double my carbs on a given day, my weight goes up way more than what would be accounted for in my food. Same thing happens if I am not increasing carbs but suddenly have incredibly high sodium foods!

Jeremy

Yeah, I've definitely noticed what Jeremy's talking about.

If I'm keeping carb levels modest ... say 100-150 g. per day while exercising pretty vigorously for six days straight ... and then carb up on day seven I'm inevitably very thirsty but find my bladder doesn't even need half the trips to the bathroom it normally does.

Then the next day I'm 5-6 pounds heavier than before the carb-load.

Yes, when you lose glycogen, you lose water. The carbs coming in may or may not have water. In fact, many recommendations for post-workout shakes involve drinking large amounts of water because the theory is that if enough isn't present, you lose your window of opportunity to replenish that glycogen.

It's all speculation, but it makes sense to me. I can tell you without a doubt that if I double my carbs on a given day, my weight goes up way more than what would be accounted for in my food. Same thing happens if I am not increasing carbs but suddenly have incredibly high sodium foods!

Jeremy

Hmm... that makes sense. I had pasta in my lunch and dinner on Saturday, which probably is what led to that increase. Thanks for the info.